Abstract
COVID-19 and its variants have been changing the world. The spread of variants brings severe effects to the global economy and to human’s lives and health, as well as to society. Lockdown is proven to be effective in stopping the spread. It also provides a chance to study natural environmental changes with humanity’s limited interference. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of lockdown on five major airborne pollutants, i.e., NO2, SO2, O3, PM2.5 and PM10, in the three different functional regions of Chongming, Xuhui and Jinshan of Shanghai. Changes in the same pollutants from the three regions over the same/different periods were all studied and compared. Overall, the COVID-19 lockdown has changed pollutant concentrations in the long and short terms. Concentrations of four pollutants decreased, except for that of earth surface O3, which increased. SO2 had significant correlations with all other pollutants. PM2.5 and PM10 are more externally input than locally produced. NO2, SO2 and PM levels sharply reduced in Jinshan and Xuhui due to the limited usage of fossil fuel. Lockdown improved the air quality. People now have a chance to rethink the value of life and the harmony between economic progress and environmental protection. This is helpful to establish sustainable societies.
Highlights
More than one and half years has passed since the first case of infection was reported in Wuhan, more and more variants of COVID-19 have been found, such as α, ß, γ, δ, ε, λ- and μ-strains, leading to more than 2.36 billion and 4.66 million confirmed and dead cases, respectively, as of 15 September 2021 [1]. δ(plus), λ- and μ-strains are three newfound variants [2]
NO2 and SO2 are environmental indicators directly related to local economic activities [10]
There is no doubt that COVID-19 and its variants bring serious negative impacts to the world economy and people’s lives and health
Summary
More than one and half years has passed since the first case of infection was reported in Wuhan, more and more variants of COVID-19 have been found, such as α-, ß-, γ-, δ-, ε-, λ- and μ-strains, leading to more than 2.36 billion and 4.66 million confirmed and dead cases, respectively, as of 15 September 2021 [1]. δ(plus) -, λ- and μ-strains are three newfound variants [2]. The spread and infection rates of these are more serious than the original They are putting the world in a more difficult and dangerous state by causing more deaths and severe cases. 2020, and has been found in more than 130 countries since. The proportion of the δ-variant is greater and greater among COVID-19 cases [4], and can induce one time more deaths than other variants [5]. This has a serious impact on the world economy and human health [3,4,5,6]. The first infection of COVID-19 was detected in Wuhan in December
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